Sweet Pea Does A Post

First of all, I have to show off  my free fluff!  My mommy blogs for The Cloth Diaper Whisperer about what she learns about cloth diapers...and I got all of this!  Wa-HOOOOO!

Diapers clockwise from top:  Thirstie's Duo (pocket) "Alice Brights", Thirstie's Due AIO "hoot", Bummis Super Whisper Wrap (not sure print name), KaWaii Baby Overnight "Blue Dottie", Palm Tree Diapers cover (purple), KaWaii Baby Overnight "Lime Dottie".  

And I was wrong.  My mommy just told me she did have to pay fifty seven cents for these diapers.  So technically I guess they were not free.  Just mostly free  :o)

I've been hanging out on my mommy quite a bit lately.  I love love love my new sleepy wrap (now called a Boba Baby) that she got secondhand from a friend of ours who didn't need it anymore.  Mommy and I love it so much we may not keep our Moby wrap much longer.  But we haven't decided that for sure.  Don't want to do anything crazy!

I even spend time riding around on mommy's back while she coaches my brother's baseball games.
Today we went to a big open air market in our nearby big city.  I slept most of the time snugly against my mommy, right where I love to be.  There were lots of other cloth babies there.  Mommy met a CHRISTIAN natural mommy with a booth at the market.  This nice lady gave mommy some free samples of a different tea to help her milk supply.  It is a daily struggle for my mommy.

The nice lady and my mommy have a passion to see cloth diapers in the hands of underprivledged families who can't afford disposable diapers.  My mommy's new friend is even already working with our local women's center to get that ball rolling....something my mommy has been hoping to do by doing the "Flats Handwashing Challenge" (starts Monday!).  Isn't it great how God puts people together?

Let's see.  Oh, my shirt is new.  It is hard to see on my wriggly little body, but it says that I am a "breastfeeding, co-sleeping, cloth wearing, sling riding, loved little girl.  Yep, that about sums up my life.  Cafe Press had them on sale a couple of weeks ago.  Mommy bought me a 2T because normally shirts that are silk screened like this run REALLY small-I've almost grown out of my 12 month one my Uncle Nathan made me when I was in Florida.   Guess what.  This one is an exception to that rule.  I'll be wearing it for quite some time.

I'm almost back to my normal smiley self.  I got a vaccine on Wednesday and it really hit me hard this time.  Mommy and daddy don't agree with how the AAP wants me to get shots, so they spread them W A Y out and only make me have one at a time.  It still swelled up pretty badly and hurt me for a couple of days.  You can still see the mark on my thigh.  My doctor is happy with my growth as I am staying on my curve.  I now weigh 13 # 5 oz.  My doctor also is really encouraging my mommy to get more organic produce, and change the beef we eat.  We already eat organic free range chicken and it is not easy on the grocery bill.  That was part of the reason we went to the market today, to price out some things. If anyone has a good suggestion for us, we'd love to hear it.

Well, I'm getting a little cranky, so it is time for a nap.  Night Night!

Five Months Old

Hard to believe that Rosebud is 5 months old already! She was scheduled for a well-check, but I ended up calling and telling the office that both she and Little Monkey Man would be going in instead for a sick call. They both have bronchitis. Poor babies!


Rosebud the day she was born!
At her visit, she weighed in on their scale at 14.6 lbs. As I've said before, they weigh her fully clothed, but at home on the scale we've used since birth, she is 13.12-naked as a jaybird. Her length is 25 inches, same as what I had. She is still in the 50th % for both her length and head size, but has dropped in the weight percentile...50th to 35th.

One Month
A couple of weeks ago I noticed that my milk supply was low. She is perfectly happy to go several hours between feedings-something I should have been more aware of. I was busy busy and not paying great attention to how many times a day she was nursing. She was developing fine, and always a smiley happy girl, but I wasn't happy with her weight gain. Not that she was wasting away mind you. She just wasn't growing as quickly as before, and for a few weeks this summer she was in that pattern.

Two Months

I started encouraging her to nurse more frequently and started pumping after each feeding. I did that for a week. I noticed my supply go way up and she also has gained more weight in the past two weeks than she had in the entire month prior.

Three Months

Note that I am neither a medical professional or a lactation consultant...but I am not a big fan of scheduling (nursing) babies with regimented feeding/sleeping/play schedules. I think that they are growing and changing so fast any sort of "by the book" regimen doesn't do them a great service. Sure, they may sleep through the night faster...but the longer they sleep at night, the lower your milk supply. Feeding at night helps keep your supply up because the more you use, the more you make.

With my boys, I am all about schedules-they function better on them. Technically Rosebud is on a schedule, because our family gets up, eats, plays, and goes to bed at the same times pretty much everyday. She is part of our family, so that naturally falls into her routine too. However, if she isn't ready for bed when the boys are, that is fine. And if she wants to nurse every hour in the morning, that is fine too (albeit a little frustrating-doesn't happen very often).

Four Months

Now that she is gaining better again, I am back to letting her signal when she is hungry...but part of that is keeping her close so I can notice her cues. She can be very subtle and usually isn't too demanding. When she is demanding, it is usually because I have waited too long or ignored her cues. I don't feed "on demand"...I feed before demand.

Today...Five Months Old!

Next week when she goes back in for her vaccine (we only do one at a time and they are W A Y spaced out) she will be weighed and charted. As long as she keeps on her same curve, I could care less what the average baby is doing. The fact that she dropped off her curve some isn't great, but I knew that was going to happen.

We'll see what happens...no matter what she is a sweetheart, developing well, and such a joy to have.

4 Weeks...But Not Yet A Month

Rosebud is four weeks old today, but will be a month old on Friday. That sounds funny, huh? Excuse the lovely red marks on her thighs, she was squished in her car seat for longer than any of us wanted today.

So far cloth diapering her has been a bit of a challenge because we only have enough cloth for a day at at time (if that), and laundry adds up quickly at this house. I am trying to do a day of cloth, a day of sposies. Other than that, cloth diapering is not hard with a newborn. (When is she not considered a newborn?) She has less leaks and blowouts when she is in cloth than disposables. It just isn't financially right for us to buy tons of tiny cloth diapers that she will grow out of and not be able to grow with (like one size diapers). So far we haven't bought any newborn disposables because we had some left from Little Monkey Man (LMM) and the hospital sent us home with tons.

Both Rosebud and LMM had a doctor's appointment today. She weighed in at 8lbs 1 oz and is 20 inches long. I wasn't surprised she was over 8 lbs, she eats all the time! Because of LMM's wheat-gluten intolerance they are going to keep a close eye on her weight gain-she could also easily have the same intolerance and then I would need to go off of wheat/gluten in order for her to be able to continue breastfeeding. So far so good, but LMM didn't show any signs of the problem until he was between 4 and 5 months.

I am trying to remember to put Rosebud on her tummy as much as possible. It isn't easy with two big brothers running around the house, but I try to get in a few minutes everyday.

Keep up the good growth little Rosebud!

LMM had his appointment today too and is starting his modified vaccination schedule. He wasn't thrilled to get a shot. In fact he wasn't thrilled to be there at all. We are working on transitions and putting him in new situations. When he isn't in control, he has a hard time functioning. This happens with lots of toddlers, but he (and other SPD* kids) have a particularly hard time in new situations if they haven't been prepped properly. I'm sure the next time he goes he will be even happier to be at the doctor now that he knows what might happen! After his appointment, he had his first center based session with his therapists. For the first time he met with them not at home. Although we had a few hiccups, he did rather well and will meet there once a month along with his home based activities.

Here's where I get controversial, so if you don't want to read controversial, don't read on :o) I don't want to step on toes, so please just know this is what our family is doing, and we don't push it on anyone else.

Although doctors and the American Academy of Pediatrics are adamant that there is no link between autism and vaccinations, many many parents believe something happens.

I strongly believe that it is a good thing diseases like polio have been eradicated in the United States due to vaccinations. However, we do not think that the regimen that babies go through is safe or necessary. We have voiced our concerns with our family doctor (the pediatrician wouldn't even give us the time of day back when we had one) and today had a really good conversation about our feelings. Our family doctor is on board with us delaying and spreading out the children's vaccinations. This means extra visits for us to the doctor, but no extra co-pays.

LMM's EIS* and therapists are also very much for his vaccines to be given slowly. He hasn't had any since he was six months old, but started again today. Although these people are not doctors, and they have to (legally) promote all children getting vaccinated...they also told us to proceed with caution. They work with SPD kids and kids on the autism spectrum daily. They do not take lightly the timing they have seen. Do vaccines cause these problems? In my opinion, probably not but I really don't know. Could they trigger them in some kids who are prone to these disorders? Who knows! Why not be extra careful and not give young children an onslaught of chemicals?

I think that each parent should do what they feel is right for their child when it comes to vaccinations. I also think that if a parent has a strong feeling about them they shouldn't be criticized. "Mother's Intuition" I do believe is a God given thing.

A great book to read if you want to know more is "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Robert W. Sears. He tells what the vaccine is, when it is usually given, how the vaccine is made, and what possible side effects are. He gives his opinion on each vaccine, but gives pros and cons for each. He is not anti-vaccinations and he is not pro-vaccinations. He is just getting the information out there as far as I can tell.

Well enough of all that, Rosebud would like to eat and I have laundry to do!

*Sensory Processing Disorder

*Early Intervention Specialist